The present invention relates to doorbell systems.
Doorbell systems are used to notify an occupant of a house that a visitor is at a door of the house. The notification is achieved by the visitor activating the doorbell system to play a sound to be heard by the occupant.
The claimed invention provides a doorbell system including first and second pushbuttons and an RF transmitter activatable by the first and second pushbuttons. An RF receiver is configured to receive RF signals from the RF transmitter. The doorbell system further includes a microphone. A first storage device of the doorbell system stores a first sound. A second storage device is configured to record a second sound through the microphone. A playback device is operatively associated with the RF receiver and the storage devices to enable a user to select one of the sounds by pressing the first pushbutton and to play the selected one of the sounds by pressing the second pushbutton.
In a preferred embodiment of the claimed invention, the first pushbutton, the second pushbutton and the RF transmitter are interconnected to form an activation unit, and the RF receiver, the microphone, the first and second storage devices, and the playback device are interconnected to form an announcement unit. The activation unit is operable remote from the announcement unit. The playback device is operative in response to the first pushbutton to play a successive one of the sounds each time the first pushbutton is pressed. The successive one of the sounds is based on a cyclically applied sequence of the sounds, in which each of the sounds occurs once in the sequence. The playback device is operative in response to the second pushbutton to play the sound that was last played by the playback device in response to the first pushbutton being pressed.
In accordance with another feature of the claimed invention, the first storage device also stores a third sound. The playback is operative to enable a user to select one of the first, second and third sounds by pressing the first pushbutton, and to play the selected one of the sounds by pressing the second pushbutton.
In accordance with yet another feature of the claimed invention, the second storage device is further configured to record a third sound from a sound generating device through an input terminal. The second storage device is operative in response to a record button to record the second or third sound during the time the record button is pressed. The recording of the second or third sound is recording of the third sound through the terminal if the terminal is connected to the sound generating device, and is recording of the second sound through the microphone if the terminal is not electrically connected to the sound generating device. A playback button is configured to activate the playback device to play the second or third sound that is stored in the second storage device. The announcement unit is configured to have an installed condition mounted on a wall and has a rear surface configured to face the wall when the announcement unit is in the installed condition. The microphone, the terminal, the record button and the play button are accessible through apertures in the rear surface.